Five goals from the first period did the damage for the Guildford Flames when they claimed their first victory of the season and defeated the Nottingham Panthers 5-2 in the spectrum.
“We talked about starting on time as a team. Some of our starts in previous competitions have not been great and we wanted to come out and prove that this is not an easy place for other teams to play,” said Jack Jacome. “We need everyone if we want to win, and it is proof from our group that we have many different players with many good skills.
“It’s still early, so you want to keep building. We have many new players, but I feel that we are getting better every day. We have to be patient as a group and trust the process.”
Although the Panthers Taz Burman only tested in the game for 20 seconds and started it clearer, they were three in the same number of minutes halfway through the period. Josh Waller put a loose puck at home to open the score at 7:27, and 2:20 later Charlie Curti shot home. The goal was initially thrown away for the net that was finished from his berths, but after assessment officials considered it a continuous game – the rapid order of Kevin Carr that loosened the goal of Curti’s shot that led to their decision.
Carr stopped Waller’s efforts only for Jack Jacome to bury the rebound at 10:57 to make it 3-0. Panther’s head coach Danny Stewart called a time -out to calm his side.
That movement seemed to be bearing fruit when Tim Doherty got the visitors on the board at 12:55 pm, but the flames would add two before the first break. After 18 minutes, Ethan Strang shot high over Carr’s glove to make four of them, while Jamal Watson and Jake Gravelle combined in combination to set up Captain Matt Alvaro for 19 seconds for the buzzer.
“We started slowly and were not prepared from the drop of the Puck – Guildford was,” said Chase Pearson. “The second and third periods we were the better team; their goalkeeper played well and we did not capitalize in our opportunities. I think if we play like that, we can beat every team in this competition.
“We have to try to take the positive points of this weekend. It is difficult if you lose your opening of two games, but I think we have the people in our group to do special things this year.
The middle period did not yield any goals, although the Panthers saw two chances for the benefit of man beg to beg late in the frame. Zsombor Garát withdrew a second back for the visitors 8:56 in the third, but that was as close when they came to mount a comeback.
Photo: John Uwins
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